Sixth Sustainable Development Conference
11-13 December, Holiday Inn, Islamabad
News/Media
coverage
December 09, 2003 |
Conference on Sustainable Development
|
| December
09, 2003 |
Sustainable Development moot to begin on Thursday
|
| December
12, 2003 |
Shaukat for cooperation among Saarc States |
| December
12, 2003 |
Speaker calls for media's watchdog role for effective
democracy Annual Sustainable Development Conference starts |
| December
12, 2003 |
Tension enemy to Indo-Pak uplift |
| December
13, 2003 |
Nuclear arms race in South Asia enters 2nd phase:
expert |
| December
13, 2003 |
Public perception of national security has changed:
speakers |
| December
13, 2003 |
Improved socio?economic
conditions best way to ensure security not weapons: Speakers |
| December
14, 2003 |
Industries fail to observe
environment standards |
| December
14, 2003 |
Plea to utilize research
work in policy-making process |
| December
14, 2003 |
Shaheen accuses government
of befooling public |
| December
15, 2003 |
Land reforms demanded |
| December
15, 2003 |
Wapda pricing system,
exploitative: experts |
Conference on Sustainable Development
By our correspondent
Dawn Islamabad, Tuesday, December 09, 2003
ISLAMABAD, Dec 8: Sustainable Development Policy
Institute (SDPI) will hold its annual conference on various development
issues concerning the South from Dec 11 to 13.
It will be attended by speakers from the UK, USA,
Argentina, Chile, Switzerland, Germany India, Bangladesh, Nepal
and Sri Lanka. The Conference, with "Sustainable Development:
Bridging the Research/Policy Gaps in Southern Contexts" as
its theme, would specifically focus on the problematique of knowledge
production.
In this context, it would investigate critical
policy issues ranging from the status of social sciences to issues
of migration and urbanisation, food security, employment, governance,
gender, poverty etc.
Sustainable Development moot to begin
on Thursday
By staff reporter
The News Rawalpindi / Islamabad, Tuesday,
December 09, 2003
ISLAMABAD: The Sixth Sustainable Development Conference
titled 'Sustainable Development: Bridging the Research/Policy Gaps
in Southern Contexts' will begin at Holiday Inn here on Thursday.
Being held under the auspices of SDPI, an independent,
nonprofit, non?government research institute, the three?day conference
will end on December 13. The conference seeks to problematise knowledge
production processes/research in relation to policies in the South.
As there are gaps between policy and research at multiple levels,
it will raise questions such as: Who are the knowledge producers?
Who raises the demands for knowledge production? What are the sites
of knowledge production? Who uses such knowledge? Who benefits from
new knowledge? What are the lessons learnt? And how can we bridge
these gaps?
The conference will specifically focus on the
problematique of knowledge production about southern contexts in
the South. It will bring together theorists, researchers, creative
thinkers, writers, activists, policy makers and academicians to
debate bridging the real and imagined gaps. How can the research
we produce in the Third World contexts be translated into effective
policy for sustainable development? Is sustainable development only
a question of reorienting the research/policy connections? Is it
about claiming and putting value into the fragmented and disparate
work that speaks to and about the third world? These questions will
be tackled at several inter?related levels in purely Third World
contexts.
The conference will investigate critical
policy issues ranging from the status of social sciences to issues
of migration and urbanisation, food security, employment, governance,
gender, violence, poverty, the WTO regime and trade, renewable energy,
and conflict. It will highlight the crosscutting linkages between
such diverse themes and the increasingly complex demands upon the
policy arena to respond to these issues quickly and effectively.
Shaukat for cooperation among Saarc States
By Our Reporter
Dawn Islamabad, December 12, 2003
ISLAMABAD, Dec 11: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz
on Thursday stressed the need for cooperation among the countries
of South Asia through sharing of their experiences and research
to achieve the goals of sustainable development.
He was delivering his inaugural speech at the
three?day 6th sustainable development conference, attended by economists,
social scientists and academics from Pakistan as well as overseas.
The theme of the conference, organized by the
Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), is "Bridging
the research/policy gaps in southern context".
"Development does not mean just high growth
rates but also how the growth and development improve the quality
of life of the people," the minister remarked.
Referring to the burgeoning poverty in South Asia,
characterized by lowest per capita income and dismal human indicators,
he described a two?pronged strategy as imperative for sustainable
development: one aimed at achieving growth rate well over the population
growth rate, and the second specifically targeting poverty and ensuring
empowerment of the deprived section of society.
Regional tensions and uneven governance, Mr Aziz
stated, were main obstacles to growth and development, which were
also enemies of people.
Pakistan, he added, was a moderate, peace?loving
Islamic country and "we believe that armed conflict is no solution
to longstanding issues which need to be settled through dialogue,
politically".
For many decades, he observed, "we have focused
on issues of war and peace. Today, we have to fight a different
war a war against common enemy. I believe, we have a greater chance
today than perhaps at any other time in our history to win that
war.”
Dr Saba Gul Khattak, SDPI Executive Director,
said the question was how could we in the Third World impact policy
so that it would be responsive to our needs and realities instead
of those benefiting a tiny minority who had accumulated enormous
power.
"Our research needs to be socially relevant
which means that we analyse not only high policy but also issues
pertaining to the marginalised, those on the periphery," she
added.
A major obstacle, however, was the lack of funding
which underscored the influence exerted by donors in the whole process
of knowledge production and equally the need for independent institutions
to fund their own work through the creation of endowments,"
she added.
Shamsul Mulk, Chairman SDPI's board of governors,
recounted the activities of the organization since its establishment
in 1992 as an independent body to provide advice to the government
and civil society on sustainable development issues.
A highlight of the inaugural session was
the launching of a book "Sustainable Development and Southern
Realities: Past and Future in South Asia", which has resulted
besides a selected set of SDPI conference papers in a commitment
to honour the late Omar Asghar Khan.
Speaker calls for media's watchdog
role for effective democracy Annual Sustainable Development Conference
starts
Our correspondent
The News Islamabad, December 12, 2003
ISLAMABAD: Two-pronged strategy is needed to
achieve a high growth rate and the poor should be specifically targeted
for sustainable development.
Minister for Finance Shaukat Aziz stated this
while speaking at the inaugural session of three?day Annual Sustainable
Development Conference organised by the Sustainable Development
Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Thursday. He said the real challenge
for Pakistan was the population explosion that leads all policies
and work to failure. "We need to evolve recommendations as
to how to bridge the gap between policies and research for sustainable
development."
Shaukat Aziz appreciated the presence of individuals,
researchers and academicians from all over the world to share ideas
and views for learning and benefiting from each other. He elaborated
how healthy macroeconomic changes had occurred over the past four
years leading to greater economic sovereignty, arresting fiscal
deficit and attacking the balance of payments. He also said the
conference was an event that would help build linkages between various
countries to address the issues like poverty and war.
Introducing the conference with a plea for inclusion
of passion in the work that researchers and academics did, SDPI
Executive Director Dr. Saba Gul Khattak briefed the participants
about SDPI and the conference, stressing the over arching concern
for truth and its connections with knowledge and justice. She said
the next three days of the conference would prove critics wrong,
and highlight that the complex interconnections between the realities
of peoples' lives and their representation were possible; that one
could actually work towards a better society only through better
understanding and analyses grounded in realities.
Former Wapda Chairman and Chairman of SDPI's Board
of Governor Shamsul Mulk gave the historical background of the conference
elaborating the past five conferences. He stressed the need for
remembering, that there were some issues and areas where "failure
is not an option and trying to answer questions such as how the
bridges with policy could be effectively laid down without compromising
on research, and the kind of research that should be produced, are
important."
Renowned media expert Dr. Mehdi Hassan chaired
the session on 'Mass Media and the National Press.' He said the
media had the role of a watchdog and of a mirror for effective democracy.
US?based journalist Rehan Ansari while presenting
his paper on 'Corporate Media and the Ethnic Press ? The Case of
the Urdu Press in New York post 9/11' highlighted the fact that
the attacks on the civil liberties of the Pakistani immigrants in
New York by the US law enforcement authorities were not reported
by the US corporate media but were well taken up by the Urdu press.
Ayesha Haroon, an Islamabad based journalist,
during her presentation on 'Media, Policy and Advocacy,' developed
the linkage between media, policy and advocacy. She highlighted
many pressures on the developing countries including limited resources
over the widest number of people in the shortest possible time,
media as a tool of information and advocacy takes an important role
for effective policy implementation.
Shafqat Munir while presenting his paper on 'Freedom
of Information: The Right to Know' said the two components could
be linked and achieved through free press: independent judiciary
and functional democracy.
Mukhtar Ahmad Ali commenting on the presentations
said that citizens' access to information held by the government
and corporate entities subject to minimal exemptions is crucial
for the freedom of information. During his presentation, he compared
different South Asian countries with regard to freedom of information
laws.
Resident Representative of UNDP Onder Yucer, who
chaired the session on globalisation, said that for a number of
good reasons Nepal has become the member of WTO. Multilateral trading
system has its own advantages and disadvantages, he added.
Pradeep Mehata from India while talking on Singapore
issues said although these are often referred as a sole reason for
the collapse of Cancun, the truth is that agriculture was the reason
for collapse of the talks.
Tahir Hasnain talked on 'Fair Trade After Cancun:
Agriculture Remains the Test Case,' Abid Suleri of SDPI made his
presentation on 'Implementation Issues: From Uruguay to Cancun,'
Qasim Niaz wrapped up the session and thanked SDPI for arranging
the events that bring policy makers and researchers together.
In the panel discussion on 'State, Violence and
Migration,' the participants shared stories of partition that underlined
the need for working and focusing on promotion of harmony that existed
between the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs before the violence and bloodshed
that overtook the subcontinent, the need for following stories of
peace rather than violence. Imtiaz Ahmad from Bangladesh said that
"despite living in the 20th century, we are still living in
the days of the partition, it is still alive today."
The session on education and identity began with
a presentation by Ahmad Salim (SDPI). Rubina Saigol, Tahir Kamran,
Ajmal Kamal, Foqia Sadiq Khan, Farrukh Moriani, Sajid Kazmi, Ali
Rind, Dr. Itty Abraham, Dr. Shaheen Sardar Ali, Talat Mahmood and
S Akbar Zaidi also made presentations on the occasion.
Dr. Masuma Hasan wrapped up the session
with comments that social scientists do not have access to policy
makers, which is the basic cause of gap between research and policy
as well as its implementation.
Tension enemy to Indo-Pak uplift
By LAMIA ZIA
The Nation Islamabad, December 12,
2003
ISLAMABAD Pakistan wishes resolution of all contentious
issues with India through meaningful negotiations as the regional
tension is the common enemy that challenges sustained development.
The Finance Minister, Shaukat Aziz said this while
addressing the inaugural session of three?day Annual Sustainable
Development Conference organized by the Sustainable Development
Policy Institute (SDPI).
For many decades, we focused on issues of war
and peace but today we have to fight a different war, "a war
against enemy" and I believe we have a greater chance today
than perhaps at any other times in our history to win the war.
He accentuated that we needed to evolve recommendations
as to how to bridge the gap between policies and research for sustainable
development. He said that two?pronged strategy was needed that aimed
at achieving a high growth rate and specifically targeted the poor
for sustainable development.
The real challenge for Pakistan was the population
explosion, which leads all the policies and work to failure, the
minister added.
About 500 million people are living below the
poverty line in South Asia. These are the facts of life in South
Asia, which have to be changed.
Talking on the issue of inflation, the minister
said, I am happy that now it has come down to less than 3.0 per
cent, fiscal deficit is down to 4.5 per cent last year and targeted
to decline further to 4.0 per cent of GDP this year.
He elaborated that how the healthy macro?economic
changes had occurred over the past four years leading to greater
economic sovereignty, arresting the fiscal deficits and attacking
the balance of payments.
He lauded the presence of individuals, researchers
and academicians coming together from all over the world to share
ideas and thoughts to learn and benefit from each other.
The minister also said that this conference would
help build linkages between various countries to combat issues such
as poverty and war.
The Executive Director of SDPI Dr. Saba Gul Khattak,
briefed the participants about the SDPI and the conference, stressing
the overarching concern for truth and its connections with knowledge
and justice.
She said that the next three days of the conference
would prove critics wrong and highlight the complex inter?connections
between the realities of peoples' lives and their representation
was possible, that one could actually work towards a better society
only through better understanding and analyses grounded in realities.
Former WAPDA chairman and chairman SDPI's Board
of Governors, Shamsul Mulk, gave the historical background of the
Conference.
He stressed the need to remember that there were
some issues and areas where 'failure is not an option and trying
to answer questions such as how the bridges with policy could be
effectively laid?down without compromising on research, and the
kind of research that should be produced, were important.'
Resident Editor of The Nation, Ayesha Haroon,
during her presentation on "Media, Policy and Advocacy",
developed the linkage between media, policy and advocacy.
In her presentation, she highlighted many pressures
on developing countries including limited resources over the widest
number of people in the shortest possible time, media as a tool
of information and advocacy that takes an important role for effective
policy implementation.
Media educationist Dr. Mehdi Hassan who chaired
the session titled "Mass Media and the National Press"
said, the media had the role of a watchdog and of a mirror for effective
democracy.
The US?based journalist Rehan Ansari while presenting his paper
on "Corporate Media and the Ethnic Press?the case of the Urdu
Press in New York?post 9/11" highlighted the fact that the
attacks on the civil liberties of the Pakistani immigrants in New
York by the US law?enforcement authorities was not reported by the
US corporate media but was well taken up by the Urdu press coverage.
Shafqat Munir while presenting his paper on "Freedom
of Information: the Right to Know", said the two components
could be linked and achieved through free press, independent judiciary
and functional democracy.
Commenting on the presentations, Mukhtar Ahmad
Ali said that citizens access to information, held by the government
and corporate entities, subject to minimal exemptions is crucial
for the freedom of information. During his presentation he compared
different South Asian countries with regard to freedom of information
laws.
Resident Representative of UNDP, Ondre Yucer chaired
the session on Globalization said that for a number of good reasons
Nepal has become the member of WTO. Multilateral trading system
has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Talking about Singapore issues, Pradeep Mehata
said that although these are often referred as a sole reason for
the collapse of Cancun but the truth is that agriculture was the
reason for collapse of the talks.
Tahir Hasnain while making his talk on 'Fair Trade?after
Cancun, Agriculture Remains the Test Case said that since the inclusion
of agriculture in the multilateral trading system, the success of
talks mainly depends upon consensus in agriculture negotiations.
Abid Suleri of SDPI made his presentation on 'Implementation
issues, from Uruguay to Cancun,' said that implementation issues
are long?standing on the agenda of WTO. The developed countries
are not ready to take them as an n agenda although it has always
been part of the ministerial agenda.
Qasim Niaz while rapping up the session thanked
the SDPI for arranging such events, which could bring policy makers
and researchers together.
Panelists in the panel entitled "State, Violence
and Migratibn" shared stories of partition that brought out
the need to work and focus on promoting the harmony that existed
between the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs before the violence and bloodshed
that overtook the subcontinent, the need to follow stories of peace
rather than violence.
Talking to the session Imtiaz Ahmad from Bangladesh
said that 'despite living in the 21st century, we are still living
in the days of the partition, it is still alive today'.
Chandrika Parmar from India discussed how the
state tends to pervert and manipulate the memories of the masses
feeding them pieces of history that are based on falsehood. 'Scars,
she said heal, but memory is re?lived and replayed from one generation
to the next.
Rukhsana Qamber, from QUA played songs from the
1965' war sung by Noor Jehan that inspired our soldiers to battle
and laydown their lives in the name of patriotism. 'One of the panelists
recommended? the need for South Asians to adopt a methodology, terminology
and concepts that were unique and specific to the historical contexts
of this region.
The session on Education and Identity began with
a presentation by Ahmad Salim (SDPI) on the historical falsehoods
in Pakistani textbooks. He asserted that since 1947, the state failed
to support the cause of a scientific and secular approach to history.
The most significant problems in the current curriculum
and textbooks include inaccuracies of fact and omissions that conceal
historical facts. The result of this is that historically inaccurate
facts, and even outright concealment of information has taken place.
Rubina Saigol, an educationist asserted that knowledge
in India as well as Pakistan was moving towards a hardening of communal
and sectarian identities. She cited specific example's from textbooks
in both countries to demonstrate how the production of knowledge
was being manipulated in favour of dominant ideology
Contradictions and complexities are glossed over,
ignored and this results in a narrative that portrays 'us' as good
and 'them' as bad. The dominant classes in these countries have
managed to train the children of the non?privileged classes to become
cannon fodder, willing to lay down their lives in Jehad, or to propagate
Hinduvta.
Tahir Kamran elaborated the problem of identity
in the educational discourse of Pakistan. He presented a historical
appraisal and pointed out that the text and reference books used
in the academic institutions of Pakistan present contrasting and
at times confusing images, made of tradition and modernity.
Ajmal Kamal deconstructed several passages that
had been censored. His exercise pointed to the fact that a text
had to be made politically and ideologically acceptable for inclusion
in a textbook.
Talking on the session "Governance and Decentralization:
Democracy in Pakistan", Foqia Sadiq Khan presented her findings
which show that the new institutional innovations such as the "Musalilat
Anjuman" and Insaf Committee were not in place, as people were
not clear about their role and authority.
Farrukh Moriani presented a case study of Sindhwhile
talking about "Issues in Devolution". While giving an
overall picture of the decentralization process, he highlighted
opportunities and constraints in the devolution plan.
Sajid Kazmi and Ali Rind also focused on Sindh
by presenting a case study "Impact of Devolution on Manchar
Lake", which highlighted aspects of environmental degradation
and food security issues for the residents.
Speakers at the session "International Relations:
Relevance of Social Sciences in South: Asia" explored various
dimensions of the topic.
Dr. Itty Abraham said that the history of relationship
of South Asian intelligentsia with the state is very complicated
Dr. Shaheen
Sardar Ali was of the view that' social Science
in south Asia is focusing on economics and development and it has
the capacity to challenge the status quo while giving voice to the
voiceless and have's not.
Another speaker, Talat Mahmood said that innovative
activity is linked to knowledge, generating inputs through what
has become known as the knowledge of production.
S. Akbar Zaidi the discussant of the session while
commenting over the speakers presentation said that it is very shocking
that many among us know Humza Alvi but a few have tried to study
and explore his theories.
Dr. Masuma Hasan winded up the session with
the comments that social scientists do not?have access to policy
makers, which is the basic cause of gap between research and policy,
as well as its implementation.
Nuclear arms race in South Asia enters
2nd phase: expert
By Muhammad Ilyas
Dawn Islamabad, December 13, 2003
ISLAMABAD, Dec 12: The nuclear arms race in South
Asia is about to enter phase?II following the Indian moves to build
anti? ballistic missile capability after acquiring four falcons
and green pine system from Israel, Prof. Pervez Hoodbhoy, an expert
in nuclear physics, stated here on Thursday.
Taking part in a session on "Peace and Security
in Nuclearized South Asia" at the SDPI's international conference,
Mr Hoodbhoy said these moves by India had made the defence establishment
of Pakistan very nervous.
One of the moves being considered by them was
to install missiles close to the border ready to hit back within
a time span of 100 to 200 seconds, therefore, there existed the
danger of a nuclear war by error or by design any time, he observed.
He wished someone told the Indian government that the
American Physics Society had already declared
ABM approach unfeasible. Dr Hoodbhoy began his lecture by recalling
the predictions made by "analysts" in Pakistan and India
in the wake of their nuclear tests in 1998.
The declaration of their nuclear status they had
said, had created in the region a balance of terror that would obviate
a conflagration between the two countries and large armies. The
battle of Kargil had made short shrift of all such predictions,
he said. In fact, it was the nuclear capability, which had caused
that crisis.
The Pakistan side, having lost hope of resolution
of Kashmir dispute by conventional means, had calculated that its
nuclear capability would prevent India from retaliation. The situation
had been further complicated by a change of attitude of the United
States under President Bush towards the nuclear arms issue given
his threats to use nuclear weapons against other states.
Prof Itty Abraham, Programme Director, Social
Science Research Council, Washington D.C., said the United States
was no longer interested in Pakistan and India rolling back their
nuclear programmes. What is more, its current policies vis?a?vis
nuclear programmes of North Korea and Iran could serve as an additional
argument for the governments of Pakistan and India to persist in
their tit?for tat in the missile race, he observed.
He, however, expressed the view that the nuclear
programmes of India and Pakistan did not have military aims. They
had only political aims as self?defence against each other.
Mr Abraham, commenting on the results of a survey
related by Dr Haider Nizamani noted that these were in sharp contrast
to the total support the people of India had expressed for nuclear
programme in two opinion polls.
According to this survey, in response to one question,
54 per cent of Pakistanis had expressed the opinion that the army
had vested interest in flaunting its policy on Kashmir and nuclear
issue.
Ayesha Siddiqa Agha, an expert on defence affairs,
expressed her concern over militarisation of the civil society to
the neglect of development. She noted in particular that there was
no transparency in defence spending and the civic society was completely
out of picture in these matters.
Mr Karamat Ali, Director, PILER, Karachi, in his
presidential remarks said no genuinely democratic government could
develop nuclear weapons. He called for the launching of a peace
movement at the global level.
In all, nine sessions were held during the first
day of the conference. During the session titled "Mass Media
and the National Press", chaired by Dr. Mehdi Hassan, the US
based journalist Reham Ansari said the attacks on the civil liberties
of Pakistani community m New York were not reported by US corporate
media.
Other speakers stressed that the citizens access
to information, held by the government and corporate entities, subject
to minimal exemptions was crucial for the freedom of information.
In the session on globalisation, chaired by Mr
Ondre Yucer, the UNDP Resident Representative, Mr Pradeep Mehta
from India said the failure of the WTO's Cancun meeting was due
to differences over agriculture sector and not Singapore issues.
Mr Shafqat Tanvir Mirza, the well?known scholar
on Punjabi themes, called upon the SDPI to arrange some sort of
research study on whether use of mother tongue (Punjabi) in education
and administration could help bring about good governance, sustainable
development and cultural emancipation.
Panelists in the session "State, violence
and migration" shared stories of Partition. While unimaginable.
brutalities were committed on both sides, it was emphasised by Mr
Ahmed Salim, Ms Chandrika Parmar (India) and Rukhsana Qamber that
in a large number of cases, the members of communities had helped
each other too.
Session on "Education and Identity"
featured papers on historical falsehood in Pakistani and Indian
textbooks. The dominant classes in these countries had managed to
train the children of the non?privileged classes to become cannon
fodder in the name of Jihad or Hindutva.
Public perception of national security
has changed: speakers
Our correspondent
The News Islamabad, December 13, 2003
ISLAMABAD: People's perception of national security
has changed from nuclear weapons to better socio?economic conditions.
This was stated by the researchers and academicians
from South Asia while presenting their research studies during the
session on 'Peace and Security in Nuclearised South Asia' on the
second day of SDPl's Annual Sustainable Development Conference held
here on Friday.
Dr. Haider Nizamani from the University of British
Columbia, Canada, presented findings of his research on people's
perceptions and national security in Pakistan.
He said that people's perception of national security
is quite different from the one presented by the government. Where
the government finds possession of nuclear weapons essential for
Pakistan's security, a significant majority of the people surveyed
said that best way to ensure Pakistan's security is to improve socioeconomic
conditions and improving relations with India.
He concluded by saying that in Pakistan assertions
on national security discourse from people and analysts are full
of contradiction, there is wide spread apathy on the issue and activists
scholarships needs to creatively the bridge the gaps between people's
perceptions and policy makers policies to make the system more accountable.
Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa Agha said one would have to
come up with new criteria and identify new variables to establish
the link between defence and development.
An exercise in this regard was carried out in
Latin America used food consumption as a variable to establish the
link between defence and development. She said in Pakistan this
task is even more difficult because of military’s greater
economic activities.
Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy while giving a brief history
of nuclearisation of South Asia said that the region is moving from
first phase of nuclearsation to the second phase. First phase saw
making, testing, and production of nuclear weapons. The second phase
is acquisition of necessary technology to make full use of the first
phase. This includes acquiring and developing anti?ballistic missilies
(ABM). He stressed that South Asia was entering into a period of
great instability and the only way to avoid any disaster would be
to completely denuclearise it.
Dr. Itty Abraham from India and Karamat Ali in
their concluding remarks appreciated the recent peace moves from
India and Pakistan stressed on greater peace initiatives from people
of the two countries.
In the session on 'Farmers Rights Program: Impact
of Globalisation on Lives and Livelihoods of the HKH Communities,'
Ratnaiker Adhikari from Nepali said that WTO has far?reaching impacts
on the farmers of Nepal, particularly living in the Himalayan region.
Gopi Sedhain from Nepal, Avanthi Weerasinghe from Sri Lanka, Qasim
Shah from SDPI and Dr. Abid Sulehri from SDPI were other speakers
of this session.
The concurrent session, chaired by Ajmal Kamal,
on 'Education and Medium of Instruction,' addressed the issue of
whether or not to use the mother tongue' the medium of instruction
in primary schools.
The speakers of this session included Dr. Shahid
Siddiqui, Dr. Ali Ahmed Rind, Dr. Ahsan Wagha, Wahid Buzdar and
Shafqat Mirza.
The seconds session on the relevance of social
sciences had an interesting and invigorating discussion. The first
speaker, Dr. Iftikhar Hasan talked about the social science research
done by government?funded institutes, the lack of focus and relevance
of PhD research being conducted in Pakistani universities and the
efforts of Higher Education Commission to boost social science research.
The other speakers of the session were Kelly Teamey from King's
College, University of London, Nighat Saeed Khan, Director of ASR
Resource Centre, Lahore, and S Akbar Zaidi.
Two consecutive sessions were held on 'National
Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS). The first session was chaired
by Dr. Parvez Hassan, Chairman NEQS Implementation Committee Pakistan.
Discussants included Dr. Noman Qadir and Mr. Azher.
Wide gulf between people' perception
and govt policies
Improved socio?economic
conditions best way to ensure security not weapons: Speakers
The Nation Islamabad, December 13, 2003
ISLAMABAD: Peoples' perception of National Security
has changed from nuclear weapons to better socio?economic conditions,
this was 'stated by the researchers and academicians during the
session on "Peace and Security in nuclearised South Asia"
at the second day of SDPI's Annual Sustainable Development Con?
ference held here on Friday.
While presenting findings of the research on peoples'
perceptions and national security in Pakistan, Dr Haider Nizamani
from University of British Columbia, Canada said that peoples' perception
of national security is quite different from the one presented by
the Government.
He that where the Government finds the possession
of nuclear weapons essential for Pakistan's security, a significant
majority of the people surveyed said that best way to ensure Pakistan's
security is to improve socio?economic conditions and improving relations
with India.
Haider said that in Pakistan assertions on national
security discourse from people and analysts are full of contradictions
and there is a wide spread apathy on the issue and there is a need
to the bridge the gap between people's perceptions and policy makers
policies in order to make the system more accountable.
Another speaker, Dr Ayesha Siddiqa Agha said one
would have to come up with new criteria and identify new variables
to establish the link between defense and development.
An exercise in this regard was carried out in
Latin America where food consumption was used as a variable to establish
the link between defense and development Ayesha said. "In Pakistan
this task is even more difficult because of military's greater economic
activities," she added.
Giving a brief history of nuclearisation of South
Asia, Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy said that this region is moving from first
phase of nuclearisation to the second phase.
He said that first phase saw making, testing,
and production of nuclear weapons and the second phase is acquisition
of necessary technology to make full use of the first phase that
included acquiring and developing anti?ballistic missiles (ABM).
He said that SA was entering into a period of great instabillty
and the only way to avoid any disaster would be a completely de?nuclearise
South Asia.
Dr Itty Abraham from India and Karamat Ali in
their concluding remarks stressed for greater peace initiatives
from people of the two countries.
In the session on Farmers Rights Programme: Impact
of Globalisation on Lives and Livelihoods of the HKH Communities,
Ratnaiker Adhikari from Nepal said that WTO has far reaching impacts
on the farmers of Nepal, particularly living in the Himalayan region.
Gopi Sedhain from Nepal said that 80 per cent
of Nepal population was comprised of the small farmers and their
livelihoods r would be at stake particularly of the Intellectual
Property Rights regime as Nepal has to sign UPOV before getting
the membership of WTO.
Avanthi Weerasinghe from Sri Lanka said that the
country is in the process of draft legislation of the IPR regime
and has designed the draft plants breeders rights act which neglects
the rights of poor small farmers, adding that the research shows
that the farmers are coming back to the traditional varieties of
the rice as it is more suitable regarding environment.
Qasim Shah from SDPI, said the research shows
that the Northern Areas of Pakistan are having the same economic
and human development indicators of the Least Developed Countries
(LDCs) and Northern Areas should?be included as a new category in
WTO as Least Deyeloped Areas (LDAs) and get the same benefit as
the LDCs are getting in WTO.
Dr Shahid Siddiqui, from UNESCO advocated the
use of mother tongue as the medium of instruction to ensure better
understanding of the subject matter by the primary schools pupils.
Dr Ali Ahmed Rind, presented the Sindh prospective
with regards to the subject matter. He elucidated the plight of
the Sindhis, whose mother tongue has a great history and rich culture,
compared to that of Urdu, yet is not used as a medium of instruction
in Sindh.
Wahid Buzdar was of the opinion that mother languages
must and should be preserved to ensure that the riches and diversity
of the land and its people prevails.
Shafqat Mirza talked about the use of Punjabi
as the medium of instruction.
He suggested that comprehensive research work
should be conducted by institutions like the SDPI, to ascertain
whether using mother tongue as a medium of instruction indeed enhanced
the ability of Pakistan to move towards sustainable development,
poverty alleviation, higher literacy and overall emancipation of
the people.
The session on "Child Labour and Informal
Economy: Issues and Solutions Organiser" was chaired Johannes
Lokollo, Country Director, ILO, Pakistan. Among the speakers was
Tracey Rizvi from SPARK, Shahbaz Bokhari from SDPI, M Saifullah
Chaudhry from ILO and Shyma Salgado from Sri?Lanka.
Tracey read her paper; Child Labour in Pakistan:
A Legal Aspect. In her paper she stated that child labour and poverty
firms a vicious circle and ensuring education to the children can
only break this circle
The legislation and the small pilot projects,
carried out by the government are mostly ineffective because these
efforts cover the formal sector of the economy, whereas, a large
number of children work in the informal sector.
Industries fail to observe environment
standards
By Our Reporter
Dawn Islamabad, December 14, 2003
ISLAMABAD, Dec 13: Environment Quality Standards
are observed by most of the industries in South Asia mainly in their
breach, hurtling the region towards a disastrous situation in the
foreseeable future, experts attending the SDPI seminar warned here
on Friday.
A major cause was the indifference on the part
of industrialists, lack of any pressure from the general public
and the governments' push for establishment of industries in a manner
often in conflict with the protection of environment and safeguarding
the populations against pollution and resultant poverty.
Executive Director, Piedar, and main author of
the National Conservation Strategy (NCS) Syed Ayub Qutub noted that
the implementation of NEQS had stalled in Pakistan.
He said export industries, that were seeking ISO?14000
certification and ecolabels on an individual basis to maintain their
market access, could not guarantee the improvement of water and
air quality downstream of industrial areas.
Nor was the IMF/WB dictated liberalization any
consolation as far as the cause of environment and protection of
basic human rights of the people were concerned.
Speaking in the session on NEQS on the second
day of Sustainable Development Conference of the SDPL he apprehended
that these neo?liberal recipes could result in rapid transfer of
crucial environmental services to multinational ownership, to sharp
price hikes and to effective exclusion of the poor from basic human
rights such as potable water.
His observation that wide gaps existed between
environmental research and trade policy was shared by other experts
who took part in the discussions, divided into two sessions, as
part of the Sustainable Development Conference of SDPI.
Dr Saiful Islam from the University of Rajshahi
said though Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995 and Environment
Conservation Rules 1997 provided for quantitative effluent and emission
standards for industries, these remained unenforced.
Irfan Saeed Alrai, programme manager Pollution
Control under the National Environmental Action Plan, Support Programme,
Pakistan, and Mehmood Khawaja of the SDPI said ten years after enactment
of NEQS, "we are still living in a situation where these standards
are not complied with".
Ritu Pandey from India said though pollution from
industries constituted a considerable part of total pollution in
her country, reliable information on the nature and level of emissions/discharges
was not available.
During the second session on environment, discussants
Dr Noman Qadir and Mr Azharuddin described the difficulties faced
in implementation of NEQS, such as lack of education and training,
infrastructure and testing facilities.
Engineer Asif Shuja Khan, Director?General, Pakistan
Environmental Protection Agency, explained the measures being taken
to improve the monitoring the compliance with NEQS.
In the session on 'Farmers Rights Programme',
Ratnaiker Adhikari and Gopi Sedhain from Nepal spotlighted the far?reaching
impacts of the WTO on the farmers of Nepal. The livelihoods of small
farmers, 80 per cent of Nepal's population, were at stake owing
to Intellectual Property Rights, they remarked.
Avanti Weersinghe from Sri Lanka said the draft
legislation of IPR regime prepared by the government neglected the
rights of poor small farmers. She stressed the need to register
the indigenous varieties to protect their rights.
Qasim Shah from the SDPI proposed that the Northern
Areas be included as a new category in WTO as 'Least Developed Areas'
because these had the same economic and human development indicators
as the LDCs.
Dr Ali Ahmed Rind, speaking in the session on
education and medium of instruction, presented the Sindhis' perspective,
pointing out that their mother tongue had a great history compared
to that of Urdu, yet it was not used as a medium of instruction
in Sindh.
The session on relevance of social sciences generated
a heated debate. Dr Iftikhar Hasan criticized the lack of focus
in the S.S. research conducted in government?funded institutions
as well as the attitude of the Higher Education Commission.
Nighat Saeed Khan, Director of ASR Resource Centre,
Lahore, emphasized the need to produce knowledge instead of merely
compiling information in donor-funded reports.
S. Akbar Zaidi said knowledge should be produced
for the sake of knowledge instead of it being oriented to "problem
During the session on "Child Labour and Informal
Economy", various speakers said child labour and poverty formed
a vicious circle, which could be broken only by education.
The legislation and the small pilot projects,
carried out by the government, were mostly effective because these
efforts covered only the formal sector whereas a large number of
children worked in the informal sector.
M. Saifullah Chaudry from the ILO argued
that poverty did not have a decisive role in the parents' decision
to send their children to work. Zulfikar Ali Gondal MNA, observed
that a major portion of federal budget was consumed in debt servicing
and defence. This left little for development and welfare expenditure,
he added.
Conference on 'Peace and Security
in S. Asia
Plea to utilize research work in policy-making process
BY LAMIA ZIA
The Nation Islamabad, December 14,
2003
ISLAMABAD ? Experts and researchers from South
Asia and rest of the world stressed the policy makers to link the
research findings in policy?making process in order to alleviate
poverty ensure sustainable development and promote peace in the
region.
This was agreed by the speakers of Annual Sustainable
Development Conference that ended here Saturday.
Addressing the closing session of the Conference
SDPI Executive Director, Dr Saba Gul Khattak thanked to the participants,
delegates and donors for supporting and giving opportunity to researchers
and academicians for discussion on the emerging issues.
Chairing the concluding session, eminent scholar
Dr Tariq Banuri emphasised the need for motivating the community
through interaction and the problem of institutional culture that
often tends to create an air of anti?intellectualism.
He said that institutional cultures need to be
taken seriously since the normal universities are fraudulent and
have not done much research in public policy.
Dr Tariq discussed how the nature of political
culture had become weak for a number of reasons like the nature
of politics ?institutionalised around feudal structures and slow
parliamentary culture.
He raised the some important questions of whether
public policy existed?
Was there any research in Pakistan?
Former provincial Minister Shaheen Sardar Ali
said that there is a need for bringing together researchers and
social scientists across the region rather than sole reliance on
the North.
She highlighted the need for continuous assessment
of policies before and after implementation. She stressed the need
for putting in more effort and good? will to bridge the gap between
research and policy and crossfertilize, regionally and internationally.
Earlier, German Valdivia from World Food Programme,
while chairing the session on the issue of "Food Security"
said that there is a dire need to assess the food security analysis
of Pakistan, as it would help the developing agencies to focus their
intervention at the right place.
Subhashai Ali from India said that the globalisation
has a great impact on the food security of Indian people as there
was the rationing system in the country and those living below Poverty
Line are issued ration cards and the food available at the Ration
Depots have increased.
Sahib Haq from WFP said that the food security
analysis in Azad Jammu Kashmir is very critical as data is not available
and WFP is assisting the AJK government to conduct the studies.
Dr Abid Suleri of SDPI said that while mapping
the food security assessment (FSA) of Pakistan, the SDPI?WFP is
facing the problem of unavailability of data.
He said, "in the study we are focusing on
the main three components which are food production, food access
and food absorption." The FSA team has developed various indicators
for assessing the food insecurity of the country while keeping in
mind the gender perspective.
Minnie'Mathew form WFP India, while presenting
the analysis of food security in India, said that the Food Security
is a very big issue in India and the developing world.
Chairing the session on "Role of Media in
Advocating Population and Development Issues" the Resident
editor of Daily Dawn, Ziauddin Ahmed said that the media in Pakistan
is limited due to small number of its target audience.
Shaheen accuses government of
befooling public
BY LAMIA ZIA
The Nation Islamabad, December 14,
2003
ISLAMABAD ? Former provincial minister of the
military government has criticized the rhetorics of Gen. Pervez
Musharraf for introducing 'genuine' democracy in the country through
bringing defaulters in power.
Shaheen Sardar All who is in Pakistan these days
to attend the three?day annual Sustainable Development Conference
of Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), said this in
an exclusive interview to The Nation.
'She spoke on the role of social science in South
Asia as it focus on economic development and it has the capacity
to challenge the status quo while giving voice to the voiceless
and the have's not.
Lamenting over the present democratic regime,
Shaheen Sardar Ali questioned if is this the real democracy that
we were waiting for in which the voice of the nation have been ignored
and the influentials who have been nabbed by NAB in the name of
accountability are now they are in power?
She said, "The government is befooling the
masses in the name of accountability," adding that the capabilities
of our people have been wasting due to political instability in
the country.
Speaking on the role of women parliamentarians,
Shaheen said that we have a very biased attitutde towards women
as we accept the males of the elite but are unable to accept the
females of the elite.
Replying to a question, she said, "We are
very eager to criticize the women parliamentarians but must ask
what the male parliamentarians have done for the welfare of the
state?"
"We are expecting a lot from the women parliamentarians
as there are problems at multiple levels which need time to sort
out," she added.
Shaheen said, "It is for very first time
that our women got a platform for the recognisation of their status
in society."
When asked about the Hadood Ordinance, the former
minister stressed that our leaders use religion for their own motives
as they do not interpret the laws in their true essence. Adding
that, they do not give due status to the women due to their dual
standards.
"Then non?governmental organisations have
done nothing in providing legal aid to the women in distress. Whenever
I needed help of NGOs in women matters, I was disappointed as I
found them always engrossed in arranging elite occasions in eloquent
mansions to get funds," she said.
Land reforms demanded
By Our Reporter
Dawn Islamabad, December 15, 2003
ISLAMABAD, Dec 14: Land reforms and asset redistribution
be carried out to make Pakistan an egalitarian country and the government
should also declare honour?killing a non?pardonable offence.
This was stated in a survey report presented on
the concluding day of the 6th conference on "Sustainable development:
bridging research/policy gaps" here on Saturday. The conference,
attended by experts from diverse disciplines and sectors from Pakistan
and other countries of South Asia besides the US, UK, Kenya, Canada,
etc., was organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute
(SDPI).
The report expressed concern over dispensation
of justice system in the context of devolution of power. Its authors,
Foqia Sadiq Khan and Shahrukh Rafi Khan, based the report on a research
conducted in 26 villages each of the four provinces.
It said in a situation where it was difficult
to have access to the formal justice system, the poor could not
expect justice from Panchayat which was dominated by local elites
in the form of Nazims, etc.
The conference was rounded off with a plenary
meeting presided over by Dr Tariq Banuri, founder director of the
SDPI.
Dr Shaheen Sardar Ali, a former NWFP health minister,
spoke on the lack of connection between research, policies and their
implementation. Relating instances, she"stressed the need for
continuous assessment of policies during the course of their implementation.
The role of mother tongue in elementary education
also came under focus. Dr Sarfraz Khan from Peshawar University
said Pushto took a very long time to become the medium of instruction
due to British imperial biases and mistrust on the part of the establishment.
Besides, he added, non?Pushto-speaking minority opposed Pushto as
a medium of instruction.
Karamat Ali, Director PILER, criticized the Industrial
Relations Ordinance (IRO) 2000, which, he said, had done away with
various rights and recourses available to labourers. Most of its
provisions violated the Constitution as well as the ILO Convention
ratified by Pakistan, he said.
Federal Labour Secretary Khawaja Ijaz Sarwar,
however said the IRO?2000 was being reviewed and an amended legislation
minus the provisions contravening the Constitution and the ILO Convention
would soon be placed before the parliament.
Dr Saba Gul Khattak, Executive Director SDPI,
highlighted the vulnerability among Afghan and Pakistani populations
with special attention on women and children. Overall, she added,
72 per cent Afghans were in the most vulnerable category compared
to 39 per cent Pakistanis.
Mashuda Khatun Shefali, Convenor Bangladesh Garment
Workers' Protection Alliance described the adverse effects of the
abolition of textile quotas and their replacement with agreement
on textile and clothing under the WTO regime.
This would have wide?ranging impact as many garment
workers support their extended families through remittances to rural
areas. In many instances, women had earned greater control over
their incomes, bringing personal and social empowerment by ensuring
access to resources and decisionmaking, which might be restricted.
"The voice of these women workers has been
silenced in the debates on reformation of the trade regimes. Their
concerns are rarely, if ever, taken into consideration in the formulation
of trade policies, yet their lives are affected by the decisions
taken by the governments," she remarked.
Wapda pricing system, exploitative:
experts
By Muhammad Ilyas
Dawn Islamabad, December 15, 2003
ISLAMABAD, Dec 14: Deregulated electricity tariffs
for the consumers on the one hand and regulated prices paid to the
Independent Power Projects (IPPs) on the other render the pricing
system in Pakistan highly unjust, irrational and exploitative.
This transpired during a discussion at the three?day
Sustainable Development Conference of SDPI that concluded here on
Saturday.
In their scientific paper, Prof A.H. Nayyar and
Fahd Ali from SDPI, observed that Wapda determined its price not
to recover its cost but to bridge the gap in its balance of payments.
Thus the petitions filed by the Authority with the NEPRA for tariff
enhancement cited its need to meet its shortfalls accruing from
management, debt obligations and distribution losses.
Since WAPDA's tariff determination was not based
on the cost of services, it always gave a distorted picture of the
costs. The distortion in the prices also arises due to existence
of cross?subsidies among various sectors ? e.g. commercial rates
are nigher than the domestic, industrial and agricultural rates.
A Wapda representative, Mohammad Shabbir, Director
of Finance, WPPO, justified the high tariffs on the plea of payments,
which the Authority had to make to the IPPs under the terms which
make a joke of the principles of free trade and liberal markets,
flaunted by the international prophets of these concepts ? the World
Bank and IMF.
But Prof Nayyar and Fahd observed that the Wapda
had consistently foiled attempts by the public interest groups to
find out the true costs of services. This and the refusal by the
PPIB (Private Power Infrastructure Board) to share the tariff formula
used to determine the tariff rate for IPPS with these groups "
make the WAPDA's tariff system unclear, if not suspect". The
authors then calculated the cost of energy produced by a 300 megawatt
thermal power plant based on the costliest fuel that is, furnace
oil (although some plants are based on gas) and assuming zero tax
rate (because the IPPS enjoy exemption from all taxes).
The result using these values yielded cost of
generation equal to 4.35 cents per unit and a tariff rate equal
to 5.22 cents.
What the situation, however, is WAPDA adamantly
refuses to say even as it tries to raise its tariffs every now and
then, while its own efficiency dwindles with huge transmission/distribution
losses and a loss of Rs40 billion.
The authors went on to criticise the latest power
policy announced by the PPIB last year, which places reliance on
the IPPs to meet the rising demand. Judging by past experiences,
it was safe to assume that the result would still be higher tariffs.
The situation, they opined, could be improved
through a dialogue between all concerned WAPDA, PPIB, NEPRA, Government
of Pakistan, experts and the general public ? so that just, fair
and equitable power policies were devised.
Girish Sant from India too presented a dismal
picture concerning his country where the power sector was based
on four pillars for over five decades, namely, budgetary support
by government, self?reliance for fuel and technology, centralised
supply with grid expansion and crosssubsidy to ensure affordability.
The new system, introduced to fulfill World Bank
conditionalities, is resulting in newer form of segmentation of
the society, which means that the tariffs for the large industry
will decrease and that the urban small consumers will come under
private monopoly companies. The rural consumers are already seeing
a rapid increase in tariff and falling supply quality, Mr Sant added.
FOOD SECURITY: The vagaries of WB/IMF?sponsored
structural adjustment programmes (SAPS) and liberalisation also
came under focus in a session on food security.
Dr Abid Qayyum Suleri of SDPI and Sahib Haq of
World Food Programme presented the features of a food security atlas
being devised for Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, respectively.
Subhashini Ali from All India Democratic Women's
Association (AIDWA) related the disastrous effects of SAPS begun
in her country in 1991. One of the dramatic victims of this policy
was the Public Distribution System. Increasingly, therefore, hunger
and starvation stalk the country even with 4 crore tons of food-grains
in government gowdowns.
With all its imperfections, the PDS had played
a dual role both of enhancing nutritional levels of the poor and
of keeping the general prices of food grains low. Under the United
Left Government in Kerala, the basket of items under PDS had even
been enlarged to include stationery items, soaps etc.
The story starts with the World Bank advice in
1991 to the Government of India to reduce its buffer stocks and
to purchase food from the world market as and when there was a need.
Like other governments of the third world,
which have adopted SAPS, the Government of India resorted to a misinformation
campaign against PDS. As it was a universal system, it was alleged,
the rich were being subsidised. The fact, however, was that most
well to?do people did not consume PDS rations because of their preference
for finer varieties and their quota was consumed by poor people.
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